Sinead O’Connor to Talk About Her Struggle With Mental Illness on ‘Dr. Phil’

Next Tuesday, Sept. 12, marks the season premiere of Dr. Phil. His guest will be Sinead O’Connor, and he released a trailer (embedded above) where we learn that she will talk about her ongoing struggle with mental illness, including the physical and sexual abuse she suffered as a child and her numerous suicide attempts.

"She ran a torture chamber," O'Connor said about her mother. "She was a person who took delight in hurting you,” also adding that the thing that she loves about her mother is “that she’s dead.” O’Connor also admitted to having attempted to take her own life eight times in one year.

Saying that she’s “fed up of being defined as, you know, the crazy person, the child abuse survivor,” she also discusses her career, telling Dr. Phil that having a No. 1 hit with her cover of Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” made her feel “like an imposter” and talking about the infamous appearance on Saturday Night Live where she tore up a picture of the Pope.

Last month, O’Connor, who has changed her name to Magda Davitt, posted a video to Facebook from a New Jersey motel in which she said “there’s absolutely nobody in my life except my doctor, my psychiatrist – the sweetest man on earth, who says I’m his hero — and that’s about the only thing keeping me alive at the moment.” That video was referenced by Dr. Phil when he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! last night.

"You've seen her video she's posted on Facebook and all, from motel rooms in New Jersey," he said, as reported by Rolling Stone. "She really has had a difficult time, and she said, 'Look, I'm in trouble. I need help.' And she called. She said, 'I want to de-stigmatize mental illness; I clearly have a problem. … Too many musicians are dying. I want to use my life, be a teaching tool. I'm willing to sit down and talk.'"